Bubble tower



Jan. 15, 1952 SERNER 2,582,657

' BUBBLE TOWER Filed April 21, 1948 INVENTOR bi /bare [Jun/d Se/per H ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUBBLE TOWER Herbert Edward Serner, Oakland, N. J.

Application April 21, 1948, Serial No. 22,410

7 Claim.

This invention relates to bubble towers such as are employed in carrying on fractionating or downcomers carry the liquid down from tray to tray. The trays are provided with numerous short tubes or risers fitted with bubble caps which allow the vapors to pass upwardly but also bring them into contact with the liquid on each tray.

The present invention relates, more particularly to the construction of these bubble trays. These are made in sections to facilitate mounting and replacement, and for the additional and compelling reason that in most cases the only access to the interior of the bubble tower is through manholes in its side walls, the tower otherwise being a closed tank. This limits the maximum width of the tray sections to about 18 inches so that in a 10-foot diameter tower, and making allowance for the downcomers, each tray comprises about five sections.

In mounting the tray sections within the tower it is convenient and desirable for the workman to first put in the tray section nearest the manhole, and then climb in upon it to assemble the remaining sections. Conversely, in removing a tray from the tower it is desirable for the workman to enter the manhole above the tray and support himself on the tray which is being removed. In other words, it is desirable for him always to operate from the top of the tray rather than the bottom, and each tray section, or at least each two tray sections must have the necessary strength to support the weight of the workman.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to construct the bubble tray sections in such a way as to provide joints between these sections which serve to stiffen the tray structure to carry the necessary load and which are capable of convenient assembly from the top of the tray structure.

As is well understood, the trays are subjected to the corrosive action of the liquid, and for this reason it has been proposed to construct them of corrosion-resistant metal, such for example as stainless steel. In view, however, of the high cost of such material, it is desirable to use as thin gauge sheets as possible. In view of what has been said, it will be understood that the construction of these trays in such a way as to have the necessary strength becomes something of a problem.

Heretofore it has been proposed to introduce a beam, for example, in the form of a truss, or otherwise, to support the tray sections, this beam being anchored at each end on the opposite walls of the tower. In the case of extremely large towers one end was supported on a cross beam. With that construction the tray sections consisted merely of flat metal sheets, the side margins of which rested on adjacent beams, and the end margins of which could be supported on the usual shelf provided on the inner surface of the tower. Such a tray construction is objectionable for a number of reasons.

Another object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a tray structure in which each of the 2:, tray sections possesses inherent stiffness or rigidity to an extent which will not only enable it to resist deformation during handling, but will also provide sufiicient strength when the tray sections are assembled to sustain the customary loads to which the trays are subjected.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tray structure for a bubble tower which when assembled provides adequate strength for supporting the usual loads without resorting to the employment of beams attached to the walls of the tower to aid in supporting the tray.

The invention will be understood from a consideration of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments thereof by way of example, together with the following description. In these drawings:

Fig. l is a view in central vertical section of a portion of a bubble tower showing two adjacent bubble trays;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 22 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a projectional or so-called perspective view, partly in section and drawn to an enlarged scale, showing the construction of the joints between the tray sections illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modiflcation;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l to illustrate another modified form of bubble tray;

merely by the presence of the bridging blocks 22 or 22a with the heads 2| or No of the bolts on top of them.

The presence of the cooperating flanges II and I2, or Ila and l2a, as the case may be, when clamped securely together by means of the clamping member I6 at a plurality of points spaced along each of the joints imparts the necessary rigidity to the tray structure so that it possesses adequate strength to support the loads to which it is subjected. In fact the stiffening flanges clamped together as described form a series of parallel lines of reinforcement, extending across the bubble tower which are substantially equivalent to the placing of a series of parallel beams beneath the tray structure, but without the disadvantages attending the use of separate beams in the structure.

Referring now to Figs. -10 inclusive which illustrate a further modification of the bubble tray structure, the general arrangement of the trays is very similar to that shown and described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 and only the differences will be described. Instead of constructing the trays 2 of sections of substantially equal width, the trays are made up of alternate wide tray sections I01) and narrow tray sections 23. The wide tray sections are provided along their opposite side edges with shallow flanges Ho, and each narrow tray section 23 has a flange l2b of substantial depth along each edge as shown particularly in Fig. 10, and each of these flanges is provided with a horizontal stiffening Mb along its bottom edge.

Packing strips l5b are placed between the flanges as shown. The two side or deep flanges l2b on the narrow tray section 23 are flanked on their outer sides by the two narrow or shallow flanges llb on the neighboring two side tray sections lb.

The two side flanges 12b of the narrow tray section are provided with spaced apertures l3b arranged in registering pairs as shown in Fig. 10, these pairs of apertures being spaced about one foot apart throughout the length of the tray section. Extending through each pair of registering apertures l3b there is a clamping member lBb having upwardly flared camming portions Ill) and I8!) which engage the outer marginal edges of the two abutting narrow flanges Nb of the respective side tray sections Iflb.

These clamping members are actuated by headed bolts 2lb as before, the heads of which bear against blocks 2212- which in this instance bridge the width of the narrow tray section 23 so that their end portions engage the upper surfaces of the wide tray sections lllb. The operation of these clamping mechanisms in securing the parts firmly in engagement with one another will be understood from the description preceding. It is to be observed that the spacing of the pairs of apertures l3balong the joints can be observed in Fig. 6 from the locations of the bridging blocks 22b and the bolt heads 21?).

The bubble trays 2a when constructed as just described of the alternate wide and narrow tray sections lllb and 23 are supported in precisely the same Way as the tray sections described in connection with Figs. 1-4 inclusive. That is to say, each tray section, whether of the wide type or of the narrow type is supported solely at its opposite ends on the semi-circular shelf 6a which is welded to the interior wall of the tank. This means of support may be understood from Figs. 7, 8 and 9.

Referring first to Fig. 7 the outer peripheral edges of the wide tray sections [0b are indi-- cated by numeral 24 and the marginal portions of these tray sections rest upon shelf 6a and constitute the sole means of support for these tray sections. Each of the wide tray sections lBb is secured to the shelf 6a by the clamping device shown in Fig. 8 and in dotted lines in Fig. 7. This consists of a right angled clamp 25 which has a short vertical leg slightly longer than the thickness of shelf 6a to accommodate the packing 26 between the margin of the tray section and the top of the shelf, and a horizontal leg which engages the lower edge of shelf 6a. Welded in an aperture in the horizontal leg of clamp 25, as indicated at 21a, there is a bolt 21, threaded at its upper end, which passes through an aperture in the tray section Itlb and is fastened in place by means of a nut 28. These clamping devices can be manipulated conveniently from the top of the bubble tray both in setting up and in taking down the tray.

The peripheral edge, that is one end, of one of the narrow tray sections 23 is indicated in Fig. '7 by numeral 29. As is shown in Fig. 9 the marginal portion, or end region of this narrow tray section rests upon shelf 6a. From this figure also it is clear that the wide or deep flanges l2b on this member terminate short of the inner edge of shelf 6a and are not in any way supported upon it, the narrow section 23 being supported in exactly the same way that the wide sections Hlb are supported, and not contributing in any way to the support of these wide tray sections, except through the cooperation of flanges [2b with the narrow flanges llb as described above to provide a stiffening region extending from end to end of the wide and narrow tray sections. In other words, the narrow tray sections 23 do not constitute in any sense a beam structure which is supported at its ends on the shelf 6a and, in turn, support the side tray sections lUb.

Referring now to Fig. 11 there is here illustrated a modification of the joint structure shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 12 shows a still further modification of this structure. All three of these joint structures comprise two narrow and two wide or deep flanges, the wide flanges having registering pairs of apertures appropriately spaced throughout the length of the flanges. Also the parts are clamped together in the same way as described in connection with Fig. 10. The differences between these three modiflcations are in the locations of the wide and narrow flanges and in the parts which are engaged by the camming portions of the clamping devices.

In Fig. 11 the arrangement is just the reverse of Fig. 10, that is to say, the narrow flanges llc are on the narrow tray section 23a and the wide or deep flanges I2c are on the Wide tray sections Illc. Accordingly the registering pairs of apertures I30 are in these flanges I20, and the camming portions llc and l8c of the clamping members l6c engage the outer margins of the upper edges of these apertures.

In Fig. 12 the narrow tray section 23b has one narrow flange lld along one edge and one wide or deep flange l2d along its opposite edge. Consequently each of the wide tray sections Illd is also provided with a narrow flange lld along one side edge and a wide flange I2d along its opposite edge. In this case the camming por tion 11d of the clamping device lBd engages the outer margin of the upper edge of the aperture l3d which is in the flange Hid, the left hand section as shown in Fig. 12, and the opposite camming'portion l8d engages the outer marginal edge of the narrow flange lid on the rl ht Wide y section Ind. a 1

. It will be understood that all of the widetrav sections are secured to the supporting shelves 6 or 6a by the clamping device illustrated and described inconnection with Fig. 8, whether the sections are of the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 or of the form shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12.

While the invention has been described in connection with several modifications, it will be understood that various other changes may be ing a plurality of horizontal sheet metal sections each having vertical flanges along their side edges with the inner faces of the flanges of adjacent sections contacting one another to form joints between the sections, one of said flanges of each joint being of substantial depth and containing a series of horizontally spaced apertures, an abutment member on the-outer face of said flange adjacent each of said apertures. a series of clamping members, one disposed in each of said apertures, having each a body portion and two opposed camming portions, one of said cammin portions engaging said abutment member and the opposite camming portion engaging the outer surface of the contacting flange, and headed bolts extending from the upper surface of said tray structure having their lower end portions in threaded engagement with said respective clamping members to actuate them to urge said flanges towards one another. 2. In a bubble tower; a tray structure comprising a plurality of horizontal sheet metal sections each having vertical flanges along their side edges with the flanges of adjacent sections abutting one another to form joints between the sections, saidflanges 'beingcoextensive in depth and containing a series of spaced apertures arranged in registering pairs, a clamping member projectingthough each of said pairs of. apertures and terminating in upwardly'flaring wing portions having inner cam surfaces engaging move towards the other of and meansat the side ofsaid other of the abutting flanges remote fromflthe cooperating surface portions of the clamping members resisting movement of said other of' the abutting flanges in a direction away-from said cooperating surfaces of the clamping members, whereby when the clamping members are actuated said flanges will be forced toward one another'to form a tight joint and the flanges united to stiffen the tray sections in the vertical direction.

4. In a bubble tower, a tray structure comprising a plurality of horizontal sheet-metal sections each having vertical flanges along their side edges with the flanges of adjacent sections abutting one another to form joints between the sections, one of said flanges being deeper than the other and containingva series of horizontally spaced apertures, a clamping member projecting through each of said apertures and extending below the edge of theadjacent flange to engage the outer margin thereof, rods operable from the upper surface of said tray structure having their lower end portions in threaded -engagement with said respective clamping members to actuate the same, the outer marginal portion of' the shorter flange and the clamping members. having cooperating surfaces which, when, the

clamping members are actuated, cause the shorter flange to move towards the deeper flange,

and means at the side of the'deeperflange remote from the shorter flange resisting movement of v the 'deeper'flange away from the shorter' flangewhereby when the clamping members are actuated said-flanges will be forced toward one another to form a tight joint and the flanges united: to stiffen the tray sections in the vertical direction,

parts on said adjacent flanges and operative to urge said flanges toward one another thereby tightening the joint between said flanges and gagement with said'respective clamping members to actuate them.

3. In a bubble tower, a tray structure comprising a plurality of horizontal sheet-metal sect ion's'each having vertical flanges along its side edges with the flanges of adjacent sections abutting one another toform joints between the sections, at least one of said flanges of each joint being of substantial depth and having a v series of horizontally-spaced apertures, a clamping member projecting through each of said apertures into engagement with the outer surface of one :of the abuttingflanges, rods opertu're having their lowerend portions in threaded engagement with the respective clamping-ment bers to actuate them, said outer surface of said one of the abutting flanges ,and the clamping members having cooperating surface portions which, when the clamping members are actu- -ated, .cause ,saidione of the abutting flanges. to

5-.- In a bubble tower, a tray structure includ ing two wide and one narrow horizontal sheet metal sections with the narrow section disposed between the wide sections, each having vertical flanges along their side edges abutting the flangesof the adjacent section to form joints between .the'sections, twoof said flanges being deeper than the other two and containing each a series of spacedapertures arranged in registering pairs, a clamping member projecting through each of v said pairs of apertures, headedbolts extending from the upper surface'of said tray structure having their lower end portions in threaded engagement with said respective clamping members to actuate them, the outer surfaces of the two 1 outermost flanges and the clamping members having cooperating surface portions which, when the clamping members areactuated, cause each of the outermost-flanges to be forced towards their respective inner abutting flanges to form tight joints therewith which stiffen the tray sections in the vertical direction.

6. In abubble tower, a, tray structure including t'wo wide and one narrow horizontal sheet metal sections with the n rrow section disposed between the wide secti ns, each having along their side edges vertical flanges abutting the flanges of the adjacent section to form two joints between the three sections, the flanges of the narable from the upper surface of said tray struc-' rower section being deeper than the outer abutting flanges of the adjacent wider sections and containing each a series of spaced apertures arranged in registering pairs, a clamping member projecting through each of said pairs of apertures and extending below the distal edges of the adjacent outer flanges of the wider sections. said clamping membersbeing operative to urge the abutting flanges,,

said flanges toward one another, and headed bolts extending from the upper surface of said tray structure having their lower end portions in threaded engagement with said respective clamping members to actuate the same, the outer surface of the abutting flanges of the two wide sections and the clamping members having cooperating surface portions which, when the clamping members are actuated, cause each of the flanges of the wide sections to be forced towards the respective inner abutting flanges of the narrow section to forin tight Joints therewith which stiifen the tray sections in the vertical direction.

' 7. In a bubble tower as set forth in claim 3. blocks clamped against the upper surface of the 10 tray structure and bridging said joints and extending over the marginal edges of the adjacent tray sections. HERBERT EDWARD SERNER,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

